Post by Chuck on Jul 26, 2006 6:17:55 GMT -5
PEZZIMENTI: Winn combines basketball with life lessons in clinics
07/25/2006
Tim Winn can tell you all about adversity. He grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in Niagara Falls.
Winn saw drugs and dropouts, and sometimes even worse. At a young age he decided he didn’t want to live that life.
He turned to his true love and it took his hand and led him out.
“It didn’t have to be basketball. I could’ve been a janitor,” the former St. Bonaventure star says these days. “But just to make it out was a success story ... if you came from my neighborhood anyway.”
Now Winn is turning to help youngsters, showing and telling them how to succeed when life turns upside down. Through the organization he works and plays for, the ABA’s Buffalo Silverbacks, Winn has conducted, by his count, over 20 basketball and life skills clinics this summer.
He visits youth centers, YMCAs and Boys and Girls Clubs with the message of “Do your best, never quit.”
And Winn will journey to Olean’s William O. Smith Recreation Center Thursday from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. to speak to children.
Through basketball, the goal of the clinic is to implement an “I can” attitude in children. Stressed is the importance of a positive attitude in everyday life, such as school, friendship, peer pressure and respect.
“It takes the emphasis off winning and losing, or getting an ‘A’ or a ‘C’ on an exam,” Winn said last week. “It places the emphasis on the attitude that you apply to whatever you’re involved in. If you can wake up every morning, look in the mirror and tell yourself that you’re going to do your best, and when the day gets tough you’re never going to quit, I believe that moves you one or two steps closer to accomplishing whatever you want to accomplish in your life.”
Winn’s passion to succeed was never more evident than on the court to St. Bonaventure fans. The jet-quick point guard willed the Bonnies to an NCAA tournament berth in 2000, ending a 22-year drought for the school.
An All-Atlantic 10 selection, Winn was a 1,000-point scorer. When he graduated in 2000 he was the program’s all-time leader in steals.
Since, he has played professionally overseas and in domestic leagues, such as the CBA, USBL and ABA. This past season, his first with the expansion Silverbacks (previously the Rapids), Winn was an all-star and earned a spot on the All-ABA Second Team.
In addition to playing, Winn wears various suits within the Silverbacks’ front office. He is the franchise’s poster child.
Not bad for a kid who merely wanted to make it out of his hard-luck neighborhood.
“I can go through a million different levels of adversity that I’ve dealt with,” Winn said. “If I had someone to give me advice at the time before it happened I would’ve gotten through it a lot faster. A lot of times in my life I’ve been forced to deal with things on my own. I didn’t have too many people coming to give me great speeches or advice on how to make it in life.”
Winn is using his celebrity to mentor kids. He talked to two different groups on Friday. The goal for he and teammate Modie Cox, a Buffalo native, is to put on 100 clinics together in Western New York before the season starts in November.
“What we basically want to do,” said Winn, “is use the fact that we are professional basketball players to impact kids we come across.”
The clinics are basketball oriented. Winn takes children through 20 to 30 minutes of drills to draw them in and catch their attention. He then sits them down and talks about the theme of “Do your best, never quit” and his own life experiences.
Winn’s message has been received quite well in the community. Just last week, WGRZ-TV in Buffalo aired a news piece on Winn and his efforts.
He has also gathered behind-the-scenes praise.
“I didn’t expect this kind of response,” Winn said. “I’m just out there doing goodwill. I’m just basically trying to impact the lives of every kid I encounter. The response has been unbelievable. What you find is the directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs or the YMCAs or the community centers or the parents of these kids, they’re more in awe than the actual kids. It makes you think about it — Do you get up every day of your life and do your best? We’re giving it to kids, but this is a message for anyone.”
Children (ages 6 and up) need not pre-register for the clinic sponsored by the City of Olean Department of Youth and Recreation. For information, call 376-5698.
(Vinny Pezzimenti is a sports writer for The Times Herald)
©Bradford Publishing 2006
07/25/2006
Tim Winn can tell you all about adversity. He grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in Niagara Falls.
Winn saw drugs and dropouts, and sometimes even worse. At a young age he decided he didn’t want to live that life.
He turned to his true love and it took his hand and led him out.
“It didn’t have to be basketball. I could’ve been a janitor,” the former St. Bonaventure star says these days. “But just to make it out was a success story ... if you came from my neighborhood anyway.”
Now Winn is turning to help youngsters, showing and telling them how to succeed when life turns upside down. Through the organization he works and plays for, the ABA’s Buffalo Silverbacks, Winn has conducted, by his count, over 20 basketball and life skills clinics this summer.
He visits youth centers, YMCAs and Boys and Girls Clubs with the message of “Do your best, never quit.”
And Winn will journey to Olean’s William O. Smith Recreation Center Thursday from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. to speak to children.
Through basketball, the goal of the clinic is to implement an “I can” attitude in children. Stressed is the importance of a positive attitude in everyday life, such as school, friendship, peer pressure and respect.
“It takes the emphasis off winning and losing, or getting an ‘A’ or a ‘C’ on an exam,” Winn said last week. “It places the emphasis on the attitude that you apply to whatever you’re involved in. If you can wake up every morning, look in the mirror and tell yourself that you’re going to do your best, and when the day gets tough you’re never going to quit, I believe that moves you one or two steps closer to accomplishing whatever you want to accomplish in your life.”
Winn’s passion to succeed was never more evident than on the court to St. Bonaventure fans. The jet-quick point guard willed the Bonnies to an NCAA tournament berth in 2000, ending a 22-year drought for the school.
An All-Atlantic 10 selection, Winn was a 1,000-point scorer. When he graduated in 2000 he was the program’s all-time leader in steals.
Since, he has played professionally overseas and in domestic leagues, such as the CBA, USBL and ABA. This past season, his first with the expansion Silverbacks (previously the Rapids), Winn was an all-star and earned a spot on the All-ABA Second Team.
In addition to playing, Winn wears various suits within the Silverbacks’ front office. He is the franchise’s poster child.
Not bad for a kid who merely wanted to make it out of his hard-luck neighborhood.
“I can go through a million different levels of adversity that I’ve dealt with,” Winn said. “If I had someone to give me advice at the time before it happened I would’ve gotten through it a lot faster. A lot of times in my life I’ve been forced to deal with things on my own. I didn’t have too many people coming to give me great speeches or advice on how to make it in life.”
Winn is using his celebrity to mentor kids. He talked to two different groups on Friday. The goal for he and teammate Modie Cox, a Buffalo native, is to put on 100 clinics together in Western New York before the season starts in November.
“What we basically want to do,” said Winn, “is use the fact that we are professional basketball players to impact kids we come across.”
The clinics are basketball oriented. Winn takes children through 20 to 30 minutes of drills to draw them in and catch their attention. He then sits them down and talks about the theme of “Do your best, never quit” and his own life experiences.
Winn’s message has been received quite well in the community. Just last week, WGRZ-TV in Buffalo aired a news piece on Winn and his efforts.
He has also gathered behind-the-scenes praise.
“I didn’t expect this kind of response,” Winn said. “I’m just out there doing goodwill. I’m just basically trying to impact the lives of every kid I encounter. The response has been unbelievable. What you find is the directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs or the YMCAs or the community centers or the parents of these kids, they’re more in awe than the actual kids. It makes you think about it — Do you get up every day of your life and do your best? We’re giving it to kids, but this is a message for anyone.”
Children (ages 6 and up) need not pre-register for the clinic sponsored by the City of Olean Department of Youth and Recreation. For information, call 376-5698.
(Vinny Pezzimenti is a sports writer for The Times Herald)
©Bradford Publishing 2006